Vietnamese cuisine has long been famous with international friends thanks to its richness, diversity and sophisticated, rich flavor in each dish. Many dishes such as pho, bun cha, goi cuon or banh xeo have become familiar names to foreign tourists when mentioning Vietnam. However, amidst that unique cuisine, banh mi, a simple street food, especially makes a strong impression on many foreign tourists.
With just a small, compact loaf of bread, under that crispy, fragrant crust is the harmony of many layers of flavors from fillings, pate, vegetables and special spices only found in Vietnam. Many tourists after enjoying it commented that Vietnamese bread "has nowhere to compare to the original".
On a journey to explore cuisine in Hanoi, Theodora Pater and Julia van der Pot - two tourists from Amsterdam, Netherlands - had interesting experiences. Enjoying Vietnamese banh mi for the first time, both were quite surprised by the characteristic flavor of this famous street food.
Julia said that she had previously tried a type of banh mi in Hanoi. The choice of restaurant was completely random when she and her friend simply stopped by a small street eatery. Although only trying one type of banh mi, Julia believes that the flavor of Vietnamese banh mi is very unique with a strong flavor layer.
Pater said that in the Netherlands, people also have a fairly popular bread eating culture, but the way of enjoying it is completely different. Here, bread is usually pillow bread, served with peanut butter or cheese, so the texture is quite dry and the flavor is monotonous.
In addition, this Dutch guest also especially loves pate in Vietnamese bread and said that this is a big difference compared to other types of bread in her hometown, where pate is not a common ingredient.
In the Netherlands, Indonesian restaurants are more popular, so the taste of Vietnamese food there is also very different. Therefore, when enjoying Vietnamese dishes right in Hanoi, we feel very new and surprised. Vietnamese food in the Netherlands is quite different from the flavor here," Pater expressed.
As for Marion and Adrien, tourists from France, just a few hours after arriving in Hanoi, both quickly began their journey to explore Vietnamese cuisine.
Marion said that she had previously tried Vietnamese pho and banh mi in France, but when she came to Vietnam, the flavor brought a completely different experience. In France, banh mi is less spicy and the meat processing is usually thinly sliced, while banh mi in Vietnam has more diverse ingredients. Marion emphasized that banh mi in Vietnam is truly the "original version".
Not only different in ingredients, Marion believes that the flavor of banh mi in Vietnam is richer and more diverse. One of the factors that impressed her the most is the amount of fresh vegetables used in the dish.
“There are many fresh vegetables and herbs here, which are not many in France. In addition, bread is a very famous dish when it comes to Vietnamese cuisine, not only in Vietnam or France but also around the world.
In France we eat pho quite a lot, but not here. We are very curious and eager to know what pho flavor here will be like," Marion shared.
In fact, Vietnamese banh mi has been named many times in the top of the most attractive specialties in the world. Recently, in the list of 25 best banh mi sandwiches in the world recently updated by CNN (USA) in April 2026, Vietnamese banh mi ranked 3rd. Following the French from the 19th century, banh mi, after being introduced to Vietnam, was quickly transformed to suit local tastes. This popular specialty is praised as a unique and attractive cultural intersection symbol.
